


The Song of Fangorn Forest

by And_Dream_Of_Erebor



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-25
Updated: 2013-03-25
Packaged: 2017-12-06 11:14:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/735032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/And_Dream_Of_Erebor/pseuds/And_Dream_Of_Erebor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After parting with the rest of the Fellowship at the end of The Return of the King, Gimli keeps his promise and visits Fangorn Forest with Legolas. Legolas thinks it's a fascinating place. Gimli doesn't quite share his opinion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Song of Fangorn Forest

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from the Hobbit Kink Meme:
> 
> "Gimli is very tired. He would like to go to sleep. But a certain Elf keeps poking his shoulder and absolutely needs to tell him something that cannot wait until morning."

Falling asleep in Fangorn forest was not easy for Gimli. It was quite dark, but just enough starlight shone through the canopy for the silhouettes of the trees to be visible, their crooked branches resembling arms with gnarled fingers.  
  
Legolas was sitting with his back against one of the sinister-looking trees and looking upwards, his eyes wide open with bliss. He couldn't stop saying how beautiful the forest was and how many stories it had to tell. Gimli would only respond with a vague murmur, because he had nothing good to say about it. The Golden Wood had been different: the beauty of the siver and gold mallorn-trees was undeniable. But Fangorn was a forest only an Elf or an Ent could love.  
  
Gimli wrapped himself tightly in his blanket. He closed his eyes, but he was still very much aware of the menacing forest surrounding them. He moved closer to Legolas. Completely oblivious to Gimli's unease, Legolas took this as a sign of affection and absentmindedly placed his hand on Gimli's shoulder. This was a very welcome misunderstanding, and after a while Gimli finally drifted into sleep.  
  
He awoke to find that Legolas was shaking him, gently but very persistently.  
"Gimli! Are you awake?"  
Gimli gave no response and tried to pretend he was sleeping.  
"Gimli! Gimli! Are you awake?"  
Gimli gave in and opened his eyes.  
"I'm awake now," he said in the grumpiest voice he could muster, but Legolas failed to notice it. He said:  
"Can you see it, Gimli? Can you hear it? The trees look completely different now that the moon has come out, and their song has changed. It is softer and slower now."  
  
Gimli closed his eyes again and groaned. In his mind he asked himself what he had done to deserve this, being in a haunted forest with a mad Elf. But he sat up and looked around, wishing to humour Legolas.  
The trees were indeed bathed in a silvery light, which might have been beautiful by itself. The light only made the shadows even darker, though, making the trees in turn look even more like old, deformed giants with murderous intent.  
  
"You're right, they do look... different," he said. There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice, but Legolas failed to hear it.  
"They do, don't they?" he said and smiled. The moonlight was shining on his face, wide-eyed and delighted. He was so overwhelmed with joy it made him look a bit drunk. For a moment Gimli wished he had brought a flask of a strong drink on this journey: if he were actually drunk, talking to Legolas might be easier.  
  
But the thought faded in an instant, and Gimli remembered what the days ahead held for the two of them. One of the ravens of Erebor had found him in Gondor, and brought the news that King Daín had died in battle, and that his son Thorin Stonehelm was to be crowned. The Men of Dale had lost their King too, and his son was to be crowned; there were ceremonies to attend, and much rebuilding to be done in both kingdoms. Legolas had also met with messengers from his father; he learned that for him a battle was still ahead, because the defeat of the Dark Lord didn't mean all evil was banished from Mirkwood. Their long journey home was a peaceful, carefree interlude between war and duty.  
  
Suddenly Gimli was very much aware that he never wanted their journey to end, and that there was, in fact, nowhere else in the world he would rather be than here, in a haunted forest with a mad Elf.  
  
"I can't hear the song of the trees, but I wish I could. Tell me about it," he said, completely sincere this time.  
  
And Legolas told him; he told him about the earliest memories of the trees, of a time when they were fragile and thin and unaware of danger. He told him how they rejoiced in the sunlight and in the water and how they streched their arms towards the sky. Gimli closed his eyes, and as he was slowly drifting into sleep, images of green leaves turning to gold and of streams bathed in silvery light unfolded in front of his eyes, and he felt that he finally understood. He thought, although he wasn't sure, that at some point Legolas stopped talking, bent over him and lightly touched his forehead with his lips. Then he sank into deep, peaceful sleep.


End file.
